Explosive detection K9 forced into early retirement, the CIA sadly Tweets

WTXF - The CIA announced via Twitter that their recent K9 trainee, Lulu was forced into early retirement after showing no interesting in sniffing out explosive odors.

A few weeks into training, Lulu began to show signs that she wasn't interested in the job. All dogs have good days and bad days when learning something new. A pup might begin acting lazy, guessing where the odors are, or just showing a general disregard for whatever is being taught at the moment. Usually, it lasts for a day, maybe two.

There can be a million reasons why a particular dog has a bad day. Sometimes the pup is bored and just needs extra playtime or more challenges, sometimes the dog needs a little break, and sometimes it's a minor medical condition like a food allergy requiring switching to a different kibble. Usually, after a few days, the trainers work through whatever issue has arisen, and the dog is back eagerly ready to continue training.

But for some dogs, like Lulu, the issue isn't temporary. Lulu was no longer interested in searching for explosives. Even when they could motivate her with food and play to search, she was clearly not enjoying herself any longer.

"Our trainers' top concern is the physical and mental well-being of our dogs, so they made the extremely difficult decision to do what's best for Lulu and drop her from the program," the government agency wrote on their website.

When a dog is dropped or retires from our program, the handler or handler's family is given the chance to adopt them. The dogs are their partners and have become members of their family, even after just a few weeks of training together. Lulu was adopted by her loving handler, who had the chance to work with her during imprint training. She now enjoys her days playing with his kids, sniffing out rabbits and squirrels in the backyard, and eating meals and snacks out of a dog dish.

The CIA wrote on their website, "We'll miss Lulu, but this was the right decision for her. We wish her all the best in her new life."